Hype vs Reality and the culture of Storm fear mongering.

[Joe the Revelator]

First, let me very clearly state, that if you or someone you know lost property, life or treasure during this storm, I am sorry for that loss...

With that said, this storm did not live up to the hype surrounding it. While that, in itself is a good thing from a high level view of this situation, at ground level its not as kosher.

The Governor of Virginia told people that this would be the "storm of their lifetimes". Being aresident of the coast for every storm VA has seen since 1982, I can say that Irene wasn't even the storm of the decade.

What is wrong with this type of fear mongering hyperbole is that it causes people to spend money they may not have in order to save their lives, because they have been mislead to believe that they are in danger of dying in the very short term. During this storm, because of the hype, I saw people who NEVER evacuate leave their homes and spend money on hotels,meals etc. This is after spending cash storm hardening their homes. This is money that some of these people could ill afford.

I'm not knocking storm warning, but this storm, be it because NYC was involved, or because its been a few years since a major landfall, was hyped to the point of distraction. An example of this was that as early a Thursday there was information coming out of NOAA stating that ground level winds were MUCH slower then upper level winds. While this is normal in all hurricanes, the drop off here, again according to NOAA, was way out of the normal range. This was never discussed on the main media outlets, but was exactly what happened when the storm made landfall. The winds were never as high as they were officially predicted to be. If people had known that the wind was going to top out around 60mph (sustained) they might not have left the area.

The local weather guys here on WVEC and WAVY (ABC and NBC affiliates) were trying to be the voices of reason about this storm, stating that there models didn't have the storm being anywhere near the predicted cat 3 or 4 when it made landfall, While they were right, they were also shouted down by the bigger weather outfits. The media seems to find any excuse to make the storm (any storm, not just this one) worse than it actually is.

[MadHound]

1. There is good reason for this practice,

If you don't hype up the fear, people simply won't take it seriously. A lot of people don't respond well to the nuances of weather reporting, ground level winds vs. upper level winds, etc. They just listen for one thing, whether they should stay or should they go now.

Furthermore, in the case of any major deadly weather event, it is best to err on the side of caution than otherwise. Irene was advertised as a large Cat 3 coming in, and the potential was there for it to get worse. If that had happened, after the NWS and authorities had downplayed it, there would have been a disaster.

Yes, Irene didn't turn out to be the hurricane of the decade, but it has killed people and caused massive damage. If this was treated more casually, more people would have died, more property destroyed. And you would be here complaining about how such a hurricane was treated so casually.

[Joe the Revelator]

4. That's my point actually...the more times you cry wolf, the less chance people take you seriously...

Hats the reason I didn't evacuate. Ive read this story before. A lot of people did though, because the hype was even more hyper than usual this time. Next time there going to need to REALLY ramp it up to get people to take it seriously....

[FLPanhandle]

18. That's what the real meterologists have been saying throughout this storm

Vs. the TV "weather personalities".

From Kevin Martin:
"This is something I take pride in here at TheWeatherSpace.com," said Martin. "We limit the need to hype things up and understand the value of being conservative and save the hype for an actual event that would need it. This did not need the hype but media is a business, they need the ratings and views."

[FLPanhandle]

5. I disagree.

The media shouldn't treat us like children that need to be scared.

An accurate and realistic portrayal of the facts and expected impact would have reduced fear from a group of people that have never seen a hurricane (most still haven't either). Those of us used to hurricanes and looking at the data and computer model information knew this was a Cat 1/Tropical Storm level event. That means some localized flooding (especially around rivers), some trees down, widespread but short-term power outages, a moderate storm surge, and a handful of deaths. Hardly the "storm of a lifetime". That's fear-mongering.

Why not expect the media tell people the truth, be accurate & provide realistic impact analysis?

We aren't children.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Well said.

[woo me with science]

41. Thank you for stating this so well. This is important.

Madhound, I usually love your posts, but this line of argument is extremely disturbing to me.

The media's job is to provide accurate information, period. They should NOT be in the business of alarming the public, whether it is over possible hurricanes or possible terror attacks.

[ConnorMarc]

86. The Media Is A Direct Result of The American Public/Population

Dumb as !#%$#%$%$

Bill Maher is right...Americans are really stupid, stupid people.

If it's not a scare, they don't move.

This is why the Right keeps winning, they are MASTERS at fear.

Wise up people...SNAP OUT OF IT!!!

[kdmorris]

27. After the storm was shown to be encountering shear and not strengthening

no one ever tried to give correct information to anyone. The perception of threat is extremely important in major weather events and after hearing over and over how bad things are going to be, people start perceiving the threat as "not real". As of 11 PM last night, the NHC said that recon was unable to find any sustained hurricane force winds to the West of the eye. This was extremely important information that was never given on the news. What this means is that no one to the west of the eye would experience 74+ mph winds. There are good ways to handle this, but what was imparted by the media is "Extremely Dangerous Category 1 Hurricane Irene". All that does is scare the shit out of people.

What could have been said is "Hurricane Irene is still a Category 1 storm, but people to the West of the eye have a decreased chance of experiencing hurricane force winds. This does not mean that there will not be flooding, chance of tornadoes, Tropical Storm force winds or heavy rains and people in the viewing area should not leave their homes until the all clear is sounded".

Irene is not the only storm that has ever been hyped and it won't be the last. As someone pointed out on another thread, there's going to be hype as long as there is money in it (ratings).

My case in point is the 2004 - 2005 hurricane seasons. During 2004...Florida was hit by 4 hurricanes within a 6 week period. That wasn't fun, but the media hype surrounding the two that I'm taking (Frances and Jeanne)was intense. They were severely hyped (Jeanne actually lived up to SOME of the hype if you lived in Hutchinson Island or other places effected by Frances 3 weeks before - or if you lived in Haiti), but the effect on Miami Dade and Broward counties did not live up to the media hype. From Palm Beach County north, we certainly did feel the effects of the storms (thankfully not as badly as the people in Hutchinson Island or Sebring, but enough to get us to all understand that they can do damage... and you can be without power for 3 weeks). But I heard so many people in Broward and Miami Dade county that said "those storms weren't bad at all". Now, perception of threat comes into play here. Those people who actually lost property or were without electricity during 2004 sure as shit took Katrina in 2005 seriously and prepared accordingly.

Katrina formed in the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and strengthened to a Category 1 storm before reaching the coast. Many people in Broward and Miami Dade county figured that "last year wasn't that bad", so screw it. Not all... most people in SE Florida ignore the local media until the power goes out and then we are stuck with the radio personalities that we can get on our battery operated radioes. I always go to the NHC to get the truth, but there is no "National Hurricane Center" radio station.

Katrina killed more people in Florida (14) than Irene has so far killed on the Eastern Seaboard, though I do understand that all the deaths have not been reported. At the last minute, Katrina dipped SW from the projected landfall target and Miami Dade and South Broward counties got hit pretty hard.

I have already stipulated that people who do not take every storm seriously are not doing the right thing and I do not solely blame the media for the complacency of people who are going to be affected by the storms. I prepare for all of them because that's what you are supposed to do. But... the media has to take some responsibility for the way they portray these storms in a way that makes people complacent the next time (when they should be listening). But they don't take responsibility for it at all. And the next time, they have outdo the hype for better ratings and then they outdo it more and more and before you know it... the news and even the weather channel is the LAST place you should look if you want to get TRUTHFUL information about weather.

(Like Snowmeggedon... what kind of hype is that? The name of it implies that the snowstorm that hit the NE in 2010 is going to destroy the Earth. THAT is hype.. not warnings to prepare for a storm. )

[Joe the Revelator]

33. Awesome post...

[woo me with science]

43. Great post. Thank you. nt

[BeFree]

2. We got lucky

It is a good thing it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Can you imagine the damage would be like today if it still had winds of over 115 like it had on Wednesday?

[frazzled]

3. 11 dead and 4 million without power not serious enough for you?

Hurricanes are unpredictable. This one was massively huge and was headed toward a record number of locations, highly populated, along the eastern seabord. "Hyping" it was good policy: better safe than sorry. And the precautions taken probably saved quite a few lives.

[Joe the Revelator]

6. Your thread title is a flawed argument....

People die in Hurricanes, tropical storms and thunderstorms. You can not measure the weight of a storm due to the body count. If we could, then we would have to in one death on the media....a man died from a heart attack while boarding up the windows to his home, something that would not have been nesassary in a cat 1 storm...

[frazzled]

11. Your entire outlook is flawed, imo

We clearly disagree.

[Joe the Revelator]

14. Clearly. But that's ok.

[backwoodsbob]

12. but it was hype

of course anyone dying is bad..that is a given...but..

The *powers that be* were talking storm of the century hype while the smaller market guys nailed the fact that it wasn't going to be that bad..that is the point.Disaster sells and the biggest media was pushing death death death hard while the smaller market guys nailed the fact that while this storm was a HUGE storm area wise it wasn't going to be a monster causing catastrophic damage

[Joe the Revelator]

15. Exactly....sadly, va's governor bought in, but he's an idiot to begin with

So it wasn't shocking.

[shraby]

7. After Camille, the tendency is to make people super aware of

what they may be facing..if over-hype is effective at getting people out of harm's way, that's what should be done. If one life is saved because of it, so be it. Some people need hit over the head with a 2x4 to get the message to sink in. Like the old saying "first you have to get their attention".

[Joe the Revelator]

13. I think it's more for ratings....look at the NYC coverage today

At one point it became overly apparent that the storm was going to be, in context, a minor event for the city. The news crews were still ramping up the hype while they raced around trying to find any scary angle they could find.

[spin]

48. It became quite humorous watching them do this ...

I saw pictures of a tree that had toppled, videos of a few singles flapping on a roof, a bunch of reporters trying to act like they were standing in hurricane force winds that were actually only 30 mph and reporters in scuba gear with goggles standing outside in a slight drizzle.

Yes, I realize that there was some damage. Tropical storms do cause downed trees and a lot of flooding.

But over hyping a storm is a poor idea because when a truly dangerous storm does approach, no one will pay any attentions to the warnings.

[hedgehog]

9. Look at it this way - how many people up and down the Eastern seaboard

are breathing a sigh of relief today and making plans for the next one?

[cwydro]

10. Good post. nt

[lunatica]

16. Oh please! Do you really think anyone could foresee what happened?

Nature has a way of confounding all the experts in the world.

I can easily imagine the uproar if the situation had been bad and the officials had ho-hummed about it.

It's best to overdo the preparation. What's the lesson the author is trying to push? That hype needs to be done away with? That over preparing is bad?

[Joe the Revelator]

17. Yes, the local weather guys did, people who have been here for awhile did, NOAA did

Read my post.

[lunatica]

24. Frankly I'm tired of the constant second guessing on all fronts to everything under the Sun

We've become a nation of opinionated self-centerd blatherers. Criticism goes from the neglect of Katrina's New Orleans to the over preparation for Irene along the East Coast. I think over preparation for Nature's extremes is good because absolutely no one can rest assured that they know what will actually happen.

I live in earthquake country in California. It's the over preparation by retrofitting and building standards in regards to earthquakes that constantly saves lives. Have you ever wondered why so few die in earthquakes in California compared to countries that don't build for earthquakes?

[Joe the Revelator]

25. Think of it as the constant hyping of "CA is going to fall into the ocean...."

..whenever you get a tremor. It's good to be prepared, it's bad to be needlessly scared.

[lunatica]

44. First of all no one knows when an earthquake will happen

Hurricanes, on the other hand, are easy to see coming.

And neither I nor anyone I know or talk to is scared by the California will fill into the Pacific mantra.

[Joe the Revelator]

55. That's the point! Hurricanes can be seen, and we can tell when they are fizzling out!

NOAA and the local media knew this. The major media kept up the " we're all going to die!" mantra.

[distantearlywarning]

29. Opinionated, self-centered blatherers

+10,000

[backwoodsbob]

23. no..the lesson is they pushed hype for ratings

MANY smaller market types called it right but that wont sell ad time.

I LIVE in Va.,my local said we will get some much needed rain while the big media called it the storm of the century

[cbdo2007]

19. Better for a storm to end up better than expected then worse than expected.

That's why they can't take a chance.

[Joe the Revelator]

20. They didn't have to take a chance, they just needed to tell the truth.

[Vinca]

21. The news coverage out of Boston is currently in the

"winds could always shift and we could still all die" mode. They get so disappointed when it doesn't pan out the way they scripted it.

[WilliamPitt]

30. Seriously.

It's a fucking rainstorm. Unreal.

[lynne]

22. Media has to change how its does things and we need to change how we listen to them -

- The constant reports from the coast make everyone think they're having a coastal experience where nothing could be further from the truth. The media needs to "break away to local reports" as they used to do in the past - that way people watching get an accurate idea of what's coming for their individual area.

WE need to get out from in front of the TV and do some honest research on our own when faced with a media frenzy of this type. The data coming from www.noaa.gov - along with having 50+ years of Virginia hurricane experience - told me that the reports on TV were exaggerated. Yes, it was going to be a storm but I didn't need to leave my home or board my windows. I'm near DC but have many large trees around me so I am more concerned about wind and tree damage.

What some don't seem to get is that the media incites people to take chances they wouldn't normally take when they exaggerate an event and whip people into a frenzy. Several of the death's were to car accidents. Were people trying to escape that maybe truly didn't need to escape? You gave a perfect example of the man who died of a heart attack boarding up his house that probably didn't require boarding. My own son ended up having to drive home IN the storm after working overtime. Overtime that was required to stock store shelves because people panicked and bought up everything. Had they not done that, he would have been home before it started. Because of the exaggerated reports, he was put in harms way.

The media needs to be responsible and accurately report these events, not exaggerate them. They can cause as much harm as good by causing public panic.

[undeterred]

26. Better safe than sorry.

[Joe the Revelator]

28. As I said unthread and as Lynne pointed out...

There is a difference between being prepared and being whipped into a frenzy.

[kdmorris]

32. After the media was done with us during Hurricane Ernesto 2006

I saw a group of people RUN OVER an elderly woman to get to a pallet of water that had just been put down in the Walmart. Ernesto ended up hitting SE Florida as a weak Tropical Storm and there was just no need for that (she was not seriously injured, thankfully).

That's what fear mongering does.

[undeterred]

37. No one is forcing you to watch television 24 hours a day.

Some people may only spend one hour a day or less connected to mass media. For them it may not seem like being whipped into a frenzy.

[Joe the Revelator]

40. You're missing the point. Nt

[tawadi]

31. Seems as though people might not heed warnings without the 'hyperbole'

IMHO.

[kdmorris]

34. Media hype - for those that are disagreeing that they do it for money... Snowmeggedon 2010n/t

That's all I have to say.

[Waiting For Everyman]

35. It's not all about wind. Can we spell W-A-T-E-R.

This is very premature, and off-base. The authorities did right, and did well. Media too.

[Joe the Revelator]

39. Its not premature for VA....the tidal flooding was not " historic' and has receaded

We were told storm of our lifetime, and this wasn't the storm of the decade.

[Waiting For Everyman]

45. Well maybe next time you can get out your crystal ball and tell us where to worry about.

This is carping for its own sake. And it's very inappropriate. If you weren't harmed, good for you. The damage reports aren't even in yet, and already you've decided that it isn't a big deal.

Unbelievable.

[Joe the Revelator]

54. You're missing the point as well...

The information was out there....the media refused to report it because it made the story less sexy.

[spin]

49. Tropical storms often cause flooding ...

My house in Tampa was never flooded by a hurricane or a tropical storm but it was flooded twice by strong thunderstorms.

[woo me with science]

36. Very good posts on this subject, and I agree with you.

Your points are being mischaracterized in many of the responses here, but your own argument is well stated. It certainly should be possible to convey the realistic dangers of a mild hurricane or severe tropical storm without the hyperbole we continued to see well after the reality was evident.

There is money in alarming the public. Not saying that is the only factor at play here, but it is a very significant one.

And, yes, it is reasonable to worry about the effects of repeatedly crying wolf.

[LynneSin]

38. How about the fact that 55million people were impacted by this storm?

That's huge - almost a sixth of this country was affected by Irene.

Poor planning could have created serious havoc and death - we could have had another Katrina.

The other day some co-workers were questioning why parts of Wilmington DE were being evacuated - thought it was overkill. I knew these people weren't living in the city and probably had no clue what was over there. The SE part of the city is built right next to a river that connects to the Delaware PLUS this was probably some of the lowest income area for the city. Our Mayor thought it was best to get these people out of there so they were safe. That call probably saved lives because, like predicted, the area flooded. But we have no deaths in our city.

This storm was huge and deserved the hype - that hype probably saved lives!

[davsand]

42. Quick--what will the stock market do Tuesday?

Oh, and when you make your prediction keep in mind the MILLIONS of people who might die if your estimate is off just slightly...



The assholes in charge during Katrina rolled the dice and lost. Given the human suffering that brought, I'd hope we could avoid making a similar mistake again.



Laura

[deutsey]

46. I know hurricanes can be volatile, so I give broadcasters a pass

if their predictions fall short.

However, I cannot condone the way many of them hype the fear. The CBS Morning Show on Friday did that, I thought. I got a lot of fear of impending doom from the hosts but very little real information.

[geomon666]

47. Heh, once again Joe the Insensitve is at it again.

I guess getting your last thread closed wasn't enough for you. How many people are dead in Virginia again? I forget, is it 3 or 4? What happened, did it stop raining over there so you couldn't use the Slip N' Slide any more.

[Joe the Revelator]

56. Have anything to add to the conversation, or are you just pissing on threads today?

[geomon666]

83. I should ask you that question.

I wouldn't go so far as to say pissing though. Perhaps throwing a little rain around. :)

What's the death toll up to now, 11? No worries, if it's any comfort to you I'm sure the last thoughts they had going through their minds (other than the tree or lack of oxygen) was, "Man, this thing was really overhyped." Yeah, stay classy Joe.

[RB TexLa]

50. "it causes people to spend money" Bullshit!

No one is responsible for people giving their money to someone else but themselves.

[Yavin4]

51. I'm Glad That The Media Hyped the Storm

Our climate is changing and that does have an effect on our weather. Can any one single weather event be directly related to climate change? No. However, our climate is not going to be the same as it was for the past 100 years, so our weather patterns will change as well. Severe weather like hurricanes, drought, snow storms, etc. may be the new normal.

So, we have to be prepared. We have to be ready to deal with the effects of climate change.

[pipi_k]

52. Well, even though it's just a tropical storm now...

it's doing a LOT of damage here in Western Mass.

A major state highway is closed in two places and has been undermined in one spot and collapsed. My road is closed at the bottom because a stream overflowed its banks and washed across it.

Quite a few dams are failing.

Trees and power lines all over the place. My area lost power for a bit but it was local so the town electric dept was able to fix it. Had it not been local, we would have to wait a day or more for the major area electric company to get out here.

This is footage of what is ordinarily a peaceful little brook near where I live. A dam upstream broke and is sending the torrent down and that's one of the spots where the road was closed when the brook overflowed its banks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElycw3aYnE

[Odin2005]

53. UNREC, this storm had the potential to be a LOT worse.

Had it hit NC as a Cat4 as some weather models were predicting folks wouldn't be saying this "over-hyped storm" shit. it is pure luck that Irene had weakened before landfall.

It is ALWAYS good to prepare for the worst.

[Joe the Revelator]

57. By Thursday NOAA knew that this storm was dying and that the winds at ground level were no where

Near cat 2, never mind cat 4

[Odin2005]

65. She had the central pressure of a Cat3 storm all the way to New Jersey.

[Joe the Revelator]

67. Look at the forecast discussions from Thursday/Friday

They knew that her ground wind speeds were WAY off from the upper level winds. They also knew that the storm was throwing out dry slots and was weaking before landfall.

[undeterred]

58. Hide Thread

[Joe the Revelator]

59. Suit yourself, also next time feel free to keep it to yourself.

What exactly aboutmthis thread pisses you off so much?

[Gold Metal Flake]

60. Of course you are right.

The corporate media twists information to create narratives for their own uses. Some don't seem to even understand the points you bring up.

[Joe the Revelator]

61. Yeah, I'm surprised at some of the anger toward my op

[bvar22]

62. As someone who grew up & lived with Hurricanes for 45 years on the Gulf Coast,

you ARE correct that this storm was Over-Hyped.
There IS a difference between "Being Prepared", and "Running for YOUR LIFE"!
The 24 hr cable "news" services have to do something, ANYTHING to whip their viewers into a frenzy.

On Friday, I told my wife,
those poor people on the East Coast are going to be spending $MILLIONS
to avoid something they experience almost every year anyway...a bad storm.
The Atlantic Seaboard is known for Bad Storms.
This was just another one,
or, as it turned out, even less so.

This storm was already visibly falling apart on radar as it traveled north.

[Waiting For Everyman]

66. Um, "spending $millions"? Free shelter was offered to any who needed it.

Including the homeless. How is that a financial hardship?

[Joe the Revelator]

68. There is a lot more to getting ready for the 'storm of your lifetime'

You have to try to protect your house from wind and 'historic' flooding, buynsupplies to be without food and water and power for a month....

[Waiting For Everyman]

70. Nobody was forced to do anything - that was up to their own judgement.

You're merely quibbling about words that were used. Very childish. And btw, I watched a whole lot of the coverage, pretty much constantly, and I didn't hear anybody say any of the terms you're quoting.

[Joe the Revelator]

72. What terms are you speaking of?

Storm of your lifetime was VA governor McDonnall. I heard that live.

And people can be forced by the media to do all sorts of crazy things. Most people don't bother boarding up windows or evacuating over a run of the mill cat 1 storm. You start telling them how crazy dangerous this storm is, even in the face of weather data saying otherwise, and you certainly can force people to spend their money.

[Waiting For Everyman]

74. "forced by the media"

:rofl:

Nobody was doing anything crazy. Maybe you know some weird people. If people spent money covering their windows, well then maybe they can store that plywood somewhere and have it the next time. Lots of people did not board up anything, or spend anything, but evacuated themselves out of the area. I guess if they couldn't afford to board up, they didn't do it!

Big friggin' deal... as opposed to... risking their lives and property. Hmm, which is more important, hard call.

:sarcasm:

[Joe the Revelator]

76. Your in MD right? How do you know what people were doing down here...

...in southern VA? I'm sure you heard about the guy who died while boarding up his windows in NC on Friday, something I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have done for 80mph winds. And most of the people who evacuate protect there homes before they leave.

[Waiting For Everyman]

78. He had a heart attack, right? So he would've had one a week later mowing his grass.

Or somesuch. Hype killing people is utter nonsense, and you know it. This is thread-hype you're doing. You'll get no more from replies from me to kick your thread.

[Joe the Revelator]

79. You have no way of knowing if he would have died 'next week'

That's just a silly comment. Also, it's probably a good idea for you to leave the thread. You're oddly worked up over this.

[woo me with science]

82. Nonsense. Grocery stores and gas stations were mobbed,

and people were being warned to gather supplies and fill up their tanks, even as the storm was breaking up.

Around here, you could not find a parking place without waiting for someone to pull out. We got some rain.

I would be extremely interested to see the financial take as compared to an ordinary week...and they were hyping the entire Eastern seaboard.

Don't be naive. There is a lot of profit to be made from hype.

[bvar22]

75. Um..(LOL)

Millions who unnecessarily traveled "inland" to escape this Run of the Mill Atlantic Storm
stayed in Hotels & Motels, Ate Out, burned gas, bought "necessities", and bought toys to entertain the kids.
The total WILL run into the tens of Millions if not Hundreds of Millions.


Only a small minority stayed in the "Free Shelters",
and if you have the "means", YOU don't want to stay there either.
Trust Me.

[RagAss]

63. I agree...we have afternoon thunderstorms in Florida worse than this shit.

[FreeJoe]

64. Hype can be deadly

For those that think that over-hyping is good, keep in mind that it can be deadly. As has already been stated above, crying wolf leads to complacency later. Another risk is a dangerous overreaction.

I live about 60 inland from a coastal area that gets hit by quite a few hurricanes. Every time one comes in, about half of the people from my area get so worked up by the hype that they evacuate. We are way outside the zone where people should evacuate. There are people south of us that need to evacuate. It is much more difficult for them to do so when my neighbors clog the roads and scarf up the available gasoline.

And don't get me started on stupid preparations. People here still tape their windows. Idiots. I have another neighbor that filled all of his bathtubs so he would have water to flush his toilets in the very unlikely scenario that the water supply was disrupted. He has 40,000 freaking gallons of water in a pool in his backyard. Does he really need to waste four bathtubs full of water???

About a quarter of the people I know added $8,000 natural gas generators in case the electricity goes out again. $8,000? Really? I told my wife that we'll save the money, survive the first night or two with no power (we survived 14 last time) and then take a really nice vacation until the power comes back on. We'll still come out way ahead.

[Waiting For Everyman]

69. Over-caution doesn't kill people - stupidity like yours does.

I live on the east coast. During hurricane David I was without power for TWO WEEKS with a week-old newborn. If I could've, you bet I would've had a generator.

For some with medical issues, power is a necessity - a life and death necessity. My late husband before he died was one of those.

You don't know half as much as you think you do.

[FreeJoe]

73. Stupidity like mine - a bit harsh, don't you think?

I never said anything about people with needs not taking steps to meet those needs. I empathize with people that truly need to evacuate or need a generator to meet their personal needs. What upsets me are people that evacuate unnecessarily making it hard on everyone else.

Did you see what happened when Ike and Rita were heading to Houston? It took people 20 hours to make trips that normally take just a few. Many of those people had medical needs that were hard to meet in a slowly moving car on a jammed packed highway. They could have made it safely if the morons that had no need to evacuate hadn't clogged the freeways. If only the people that needed to evacuate had done so, fewer people would have died. There is no excuse for a typical family 40 miles from the maximum storm surge to take up badly needed space and consume badly needed fuel that could be used by those that truly need it. If your husband was someone that needed to evacuate, I think he would have appreciated my staying off the roads so that he could do so.

As for generators, I don't begrudge anyone from getting one. If they want to spend their money, so be it. My point is that for most of the people I know that got these massive whole-house generators, I think they are wasting their money. If you need one for medical reasons, get one. I'm not suggesting that they be banned.

"You don't know half as much as you think you do"? Seriously? Why the hate?

[Waiting For Everyman]

77. The authorities were very careful to target who needed to evacuate.

It was not a wholesale "everybody get out". Who needed to go, was very carefully explained as part of the instructions - and way ahead of time.

Ike and Rita were there, and then; this is here, and now. Your experience has nothing to do with this, that's the point.

Why the hate? Because you're using our emergency (which millions are still in) as a soapbox for yourself and a crock of bull, aimed at people who helped us and are still doing so. Do you understand sufficiently now? I don't need to have you ok my reasons for my opinion, but there you have one.

And if you think I'm upset, IT ISN'T OVER YET. Lots of my neighbors who are in trouble and lots of DUers who can't get on here because they have no power, are depending on the media and authorities being slammed in this thread. Entertain yourselves some other way, might be an idea.

Nevermind.

[FreeJoe]

84. I'm confused

I'm not really sure why my posts are making you angry, but it is clear that you don't need someone arguing with you right now. I'm sorry for upsetting you. Best of luck and may peace be with you.

[FLPanhandle]

71. The Europeans have noticed our media over reaction too.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100102355/perfect-storm-of-hype-politicians-the-media-and-the-hurricane-irene-apocalypse-that-never-was/

For the television reporter, clad in his red cagoule emblazoned with the CNN logo, it was a dramatic on-air moment, broadcasting live from Long Island, New York during a hurricane that also threatened Manhattan.

“We are in, right, now…the right eye wall, no doubt about that…there you see the surf,” he said breathlessly. “That tells a story right there.” Stumbling and apparently buffeted by ferocious gusts, he took shelter next to a building. “This is our protection from the wind,” he explained. “It’s been truly remarkable to watch the power of the ocean here.”

The surf may have told a story but so too did the sight behind the reporter of people chatting and ambling along the sea front and just goofing around. There was a man in a t-shirt, a woman waving her arms and then walking backwards. Then someone on a bicycle glided past. Across the screen, the “Breaking News: Irene Batters Long Island” caption was replaced by stern advice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): “Stay inside, stay safe.”

The images summed up Hurricane Irene – the media and the United States federal government trying to live up to their own doom-laden warnings and predictions while a sizeable number of ordinary Americans just carried on as normal and even made gentle fun of all the fuss.

There was almost palpable disappointment among the TV big guns rolled out for the occasion when Irene was downgraded to a mere ‘tropical storm”. In New York city, CNN’s silver-haired Anderson Cooper, more usually seen in a tight t-shirt in a famine or war zone, was clad in what one wag dubbed “disaster casual”.

He looked crestfallen fell briefly silent when a weatherwoman told him that the rain was not going to get any worse. “Wow, because this isn’t so bad,” he said. “It’s an annoying rain but it isn’t even a sideways rain.”


LOL. At least the media is getting this hype rubbed back in their noses a bit by more objective folks.

[WinkyDink]

80. I'm near closed roads, no-electricity areas, about-to-crest rivers, and downed trees. Hype?

[Joe the Revelator]

81. Nobody said the storm was a figment of your imagination.

I'm saying that it was a run of the mill category 1 and not the 'storm of a lifetime'.

[Ruby the Liberal]

85. Er, have you checked Vermont today, Nostradamus?

Just sayin.

:hi:

k&u

[Manifestor_of_Light]

87. Hurricane Rita was a media hype. The evacuation was unnecessary.

I was living in Houston. It was just a few weeks after Katrina. The media was telling everyone to get out of town. Looking at the radar, it was hitting in Orange or Beaumont, someplace east of Houston.
Millions of people tried to evacuate and people died in the heat, due to the inadequacy of the freeways.

I didn't leave. I stayed.